Originally Posted by
MattTheHat
Do you mean 3%?
How can ambient temperature change a route time by 30%? The only thing I can think of would be if it gets so cold a wet surface freezes or so hot tires melt.
LOL only 3%, I wish it was only 3%
I run a power meter on the bike... I'm NOT guessing !
For every Watt your body places into the bike as power, your body wastes 3.2 Watts as heat. We are not a very efficient engine.
This heat must be cooled or we overheat.
We are AIR cooled and once the ambient rises, the cooling effect drops.
The body will reduce the power output rather than overheat, and the time on the route goes up.
So, ambient temp very much controls your ability to output power and your speed.
This doesn't take into consideration dehydration, which just makes matters worse.
Barry
BTW I'm in California, last week it hit 107F / 41.7C
Body Temp = 98.6F / 37C.
Can you imagine the "cooling" effect of air that is 8F / 5C hotter than you are!